Penguins Update: Different Strokes

As I was reading about the Nashville Predators team reset on NHL.com, the old 1970s sitcom Different Strokes suddenly popped into my head.

Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout Buker?

Let me explain.

There are many different approaches to team building in the NHL. A lot of organizations, our Penguins a prime example, place a premium on skill and speed. And there’s no question that being fast (and good) greatly enhances a team’s chances for success. A point driven home when our Pens set the NHL on its collective ear and blazed to back-to-back Cups in ’16 and ’17. Recently reinforced when the uber-fast and talented Avalanche skated over, around and through two-time defending Cup champion Tampa Bay.

Most teams prefer a hybrid approach, blending skill and speed with an underpinning of muscle. I’d put more recent Cup winners Washington, St. Louis and the Lightning in that category.

Then there’s old school. The type of squad that Nashville is building in the Music City.

Count me among those who think the Predators are going to be murder to play against this season. For starters, they’ve got more than their fair share of talent. Perennial Norris Trophy candidate Roman Josi tallied a Bobby Orr-ish 96 points in 2021-22. Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene each topped 40 goals while making an impressive set of top-line bookends for Mikael Granlund.

But what strikes me the most…literally…is the Preds’ physicality. They come at you hard and often, to the tune of a league-high 2470 hits last season. (By contrast, our Pens had 2010.) And they have no shortage of players who, in the immortal words of Flyers great Bobby Clarke, “…take the shortest route to the puck and arrive in ill humor.”

Among the forwards, the list includes burly second-liners Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen (both 20-plus goal guys) and Calder Trophy candidate Tanner Jeannot, who piled up 24 goals and 318 hits in ’21-22.  Among them a crushing, head-on demo job of Kris Letang on April 10 and subsequent punch out of a game but way overmatched Mike Matheson in a follow-up tilt.

FYI…Jeannot’s 14 fighting majors topped the NHL, one ahead of teammate and noted scrapper Mark Borowiecki. Two more than the dozen the Pens accumulated as a team.

Fellow backline thumper Mattias Ekholm and 215-pound newcomer Ryan McDonagh provide additional size and aggression. As if they needed any more beef, the Preds signed 6’4” 207-pound Zach Sanford (169 hits) to a one-year deal for $850 K. (By comparison, we signed 5’10” 176-pound Josh Archibald for $900 K.)

That’s a lot of collective meat on the hoof and heavy forecheck thundering your way. Better buckle those chin straps, boys.

“Smashville” indeed.

In many ways the new-look Preds remind me of John Tortorella’s brutal Columbus teams from a few years back. The Jackets boasted the likes of Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner, Josh Anderson, Scott Hartnell and the much-reviled Brandon Dubinsky, who took special delight in heaping abuse upon our captain Sidney Crosby.

Talk about tough to play against. I hated them but envied them if that makes any sense.

Of course, the makeup of those teams stands in stark contrast to the way our Pens are constructed. While our guys certainly compete and get their noses dirty…Crosby and Jake Guentzel are the epitome of “hockey tough”…there’s no one in our lineup remotely on a par with the Preds’ stable of bruisers.

Different strokes for different folks. Or in this case, hockey teams. One of the toughest clubs in the league back in the early 2010s, the Pens haven’t put a premium on physical play (or players) since before Mike Sullivan took over. And, hey, we won those back-to-back Cups while embracing Sully’s “just play” mantra, while the Preds and Blue Jackets have won bupkis.

Still, I can’t help but wish we had a little “Smashville” snarl. Especially come playoff time when the stakes are higher and the goin’ gets considerably tougher.